The Bitter Taste in Your Mouth
by DarkLightningEnvy
Summary: Emma had no control, no matter how she may have deluded herself. She had no free will in whatever was happening between her and Regina Mills. And maybe that's the way it should have been all along. This took a violent turn I didn't expect. Near-rape experience. All around dark story with no happy ending.


The air had been tense between them all day. It almost felt like old times, back when Emma only entered the mayoral mansion for Henry, or when Regina called her for a chat that usually ended in a verbal attack. It would only be a matter of time, Emma had known, before something clicked, and everything went back to the way it used to be. Things were too strange for them to remain.

Regina had gotten up that morning, dressed without saying a word to Emma, eaten breakfast with Henry without inviting Emma to join them, and left for work. Emma had never stayed the whole night before, so she wasn't sure of the woman's usual routine. But she was pretty sure it was rude to not acknowledge the person whose name you'd been practically growling the entire night before. Emma couldn't find it in herself to be surprised; they'd been doing this for a while now, but this was their first official 'morning after'. Had it been any other way, Emma was sure she would have checked Regina into a clinic.

But Regina didn't answer Emma's call at lunch. She called twice, just to be sure the call went through, but there was no answer both times. The blonde was beginning to wonder if she'd done something wrong. That couldn't be the case, though, because Regina usually went out of her way to let Emma know when she'd messed up. The Mayor practically fed on breaking Emma down; the Sheriff wondered if Regina knew just how successful she really was in that task.

By midafternoon, Emma's nerves had gotten the best of her. She sent a simple text to Regina, two words that, no matter how simple they appeared, begged acknowledgement. _You ok? _

Nothing.

Nerves had developed into anger by the end of the workday. Emma slammed shut the folder she had been working with, a little harder than was probably necessary, and tossed it on top of another pile of folders. She was in her coat and out the door shortly after, abandoning her squad car for her little yellow bug. She had just turned the key in her ignition when the text alert went off on her cell phone.

_Come over._

Emma glared at the text for a few long moments before snapping the phone shut and throwing the car into gear. Contact hadn't made her anger subside. No, it had strengthened it, if that was even possible at that point. By the time she reached Regina's impossibly large house, she had decided that it didn't matter what was going on – there was going to be an argument.

Regina was waiting on the porch. Emma strutted briskly up the walkway, her eyes narrowed. When she reached the bottom of the steps, she paused, gazing up at the woman for a long moment. Regina was staring back, her face completely unreadable, her eyes smoldering, but not with the lustful heat Emma was used to lately. Neither spoke for a while, both too wrapped up in their own pride.

"So I only get communication privileges when they're initiated by you?" Emma asked finally, her tone even. The slight climb in Regina's brow didn't go unnoticed.

"Perhaps we should have this conversation inside, Miss Swan."

_Oh. So we're back to that now. _

Emma said nothing, just ascended the steps when Regina turned her back to open the door. She followed the brunette inside, closing the door behind her, and into the first floor study. Briefly, she wondered where Henry was.

Regina stopped in front of her desk and turned slowly, as if loathed to be facing Emma in the first place. Emma took a moment to assess the situation; Regina's body language was exactly as it had been in the past, before any of this had started. She was straight backed, one hand curled into a fist on her hip, and if expressions could kill…Emma would be in the morgue by now. Despite her own anger, Emma couldn't help but feel a bit of fear. She didn't like this.

"What's going on?"

Regina's chin lifted a bit, a sign of defense that Emma had come to recognize quicker than anticipated. "Perhaps I should be the one asking you that question, Miss Swan."

Emma's eyes narrowed slightly. "What does that mean?"

"I mean," Regina said, bringing her hand off of her hip and gesturing between them. "What's going on? What are we doing here?"

_Oh God, _Emma thought, her stomach knotting up. _I can't have this talk right now. _

"Maybe we should have been asking that question before we got into something we weren't ready for," Emma replied, though her tone clearly indicated that she wasn't referring to both of them. She knew where her head was. At least, she thought she did. Regina, however…Emma saw this coming a mile away.

"I am beginning to wonder if I was a fool for not listening to you at the beginning of this," Regina said, her fist returning to her hip. "When you said that you don't _do _these types of commitments."

_Commitments? _When the hell had they agreed to a commitment? Sure, they had sex, and they talked a little more often now than they used to, but Regina still kept her at arm's length. Always had some excuse as to why she couldn't stay, or why Emma had to leave. Always recovered herself when she lost control, her fingers buried to the knuckle in Emma's heat, panting shallowly as she rubbed herself off on some part of Emma's body. Because, if she could help it, Emma wasn't allowed to touch Regina. Not in the way she wanted to.

"You're going to have to be a little more specific," Emma said, folding her arms over her jacket. Regina scoffed, her features erupting into the first blast of emotion Emma had seen since she'd arrived.

"Please," Regina hissed, taking a step forward. Emma was pretty sure it was a threat. "Don't think I'm ignorant to the fact that you crawl out of my bed and into Ruby's several times a week, Sheriff."

Emma's brow disappeared immediately into her hairline. "_Excuse _me?" she snapped back. "If you care to recall, I didn't crawl out of your bed at all last night. It's a bit hard to be in two places at once."

"Oh _save it,_" Regina snarled, taking another step forward. Emma was far too incredulous to even notice their close proximity. "I wonder, Miss Swan…did you intend on making a fool of me? Did you intend on fucking the Mayor, just to prove you could?"

"Where the hell is this coming from!" Emma demanded, her own stoic demeanor broken by her inability to communicate without body language. "Why would it even matter to you what I did with Ruby? _You _are the one who wanted this kept a secret. I can't really stay exclusive with a _secret lover._"

When Regina's hand swung out, Emma expected it to strike her. Instead, Regina's fingers wrapped around the lump of blonde hair that Emma had decided to tie up today, jerking her forward until they were pressed together. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.

"So its true?"

Emma stood her ground, her gaze meeting Regina's unyielding one. "Yes."

The murderous look that flashed through Regina's eyes scared Emma, and that was putting it lightly. Regina flung Emma away from her, throwing her by where she had hold of her hair. Emma collided with the wall, slamming her palms flat against it to steady herself. When she turned, Regina had started forward, but seemed to be having too much of a mental battle to complete the trip all the way to her.

"Regina," Emma started, sagging her back against the wall behind her. "How was I supposed to know you didn't want me to?"

"Running it by me first would have been nice," Regina spat, her fists clenching tightly at her sides. Emma snorted.

"Right," she drawled. "I forgot. I don't have any more rights than Henry, so I have to ask _your _permission before I do _anything_."

"_You do not breathe in this town without my permission!" _Regina exploded, not quite screaming, but not keeping her voice level anymore, either. She had advanced on Emma again, wrapping her fingers around the girl's throat. Leaning in, she whispered, "How long?"

Emma stared at Regina for a long moment, not speaking. She winced harshly when Regina yanked her off of the wall by her throat, only to slam her violently back against it. "_How long!" _

"How dare you," Emma breathed, causing an arch in Regina's brow.

"Pardon me?"

"How dare you," Emma repeated, louder this time. "How dare you stand there and act like this over some stupid, meaningless little _thing _with Ruby, when I know damn well you've fucked David since we started whatever _this _is." Regina drew back a little, but her hold on Emma's throat didn't loosen. Emma continued. "Are you really that desperate for attention, Regina? That you'd fuck your friend's husband, not just for the orgasm, but for the scene it would cause with me? All you had to do was ask me to hate you. Really, it isn't that difficult."

Regina swung them around, throwing Emma to the floor. The blonde hit the marble with a soft grunt, landing funny on her elbow. Pain laced up her arm, but Emma refused to show it on her face. She wasn't about to succumb to weakness when Regina was acting like this. She knew Regina had a temper, but never in her life had she expected this kind of behavior, and over something so miniscule. Emma was starting to realize that they had gotten in far too deep.

Before Regina could formulate a worthy response to Emma's attack, Emma continued. "I can't do this."

This seemed to get Regina's attention. She froze where she was, staring down at Emma with an expression not far off of disbelief. "You what?"

"_I can't do this," _Emma repeated, more clearly this time. "I can't do this with someone with no soul. I'm not going to be responsible for you destroying yourself."

Finally, Regina was looking decomposed. Her breathing had labored a bit, and her eyes were wide with panic. When she spoke, she sounded one octave shy of hysterical. "You're leaving?"

Emma's silence answered the question for her. Regina's expression went from panicked to furious, and before Emma realized what was happening, the Mayor had snatched something off of her desk. Silver flashed out of the corner of Emma's eye, and she just barely had time to shove herself out of the way before Regina bore down on her, swinging the tip of a letter opener at her. Instead of Emma's flesh, the tip bit into the fabric of the loveseat, ripping it clean open. Emma stared in complete horror for a moment.

"What the hell are you doing!"

"Making this easy," Regina growled. "For both of us."

She lashed out again, catching the back of the arm Emma had smashed on the floor. Crying out, Emma did the first thing that instinct told her to do; she kicked out, knocking Regina's feet out from under her. The woman hit the floor hard, the skirt of her suit tangling around her thighs as she attempted to roll to her knees. Emma lunged forward, tackling her to the floor and grabbing the wrist of the hand that held the letter opener.

As brief as the struggle was, the violence of it startled Emma. Regina's nails had sunk into Emma's cheek, tearing a hole. Emma saw her own flesh under Regina's nails, felt the warm liquid of her blood run down her face. Emma straddled Regina's waist, reared, and backhanded her as hard as she could. In response to the force she had been hit with, Regina lost her grip on the letter opener. It wasn't a loss; she grasped a handful of Emma's jacket and gained her leverage, flipping the woman off of her and rolling until she was completely on top of her, restricting her movement. Emma swore harshly, but she could barely get her bearings before Regina's lips were smashed against her own.

_I can't do this, _Emma's brain screamed. _I can't keep letting her do this. _

But it seemed like Emma didn't have much choice in the matter. She tried to seal her lips shut, but Regina's teeth latched onto her bottom lip, biting down so hard that Emma's lips parted in an involuntary cry of pain. The taste of blood and Regina's tongue did something to her senses that Emma knew wasn't normal for such a situation. She was shaking, her body pressing up against Regina, her tongue forcing its way against the Mayor's.

_I can't do this. _

"You might think you have free will in this relationship, Miss Swan," Regina growled between violent kisses, slamming her thigh between Emma's legs and shoving her knee up against her center harshly. _"_But you are _nothing _but a pawn. You won't leave, and you won't stop me."

_Watch me._

But Emma didn't. She writhed beneath Regina's force, hungrily seeking out more contact when Regina's lips left hers to slide down her throat. When Regina's teeth sunk into her shoulder, Emma almost screamed. She was cut off by another rough kiss. Regina tasted different, and it dawned on Emma slowly, nagging at the back of her head, even as Regina's knee began rubbing sharply against Emma's still clothed center.

"You know," Emma rasped, her hips arching up into Regina's knee. "You should really do something about that bitter taste in your mouth…before you get an infection."

Regina struck Emma hard, sending the blonde into silence. And as the Mayor descended her body, jerking the button of Emma's jeans free, Emma knew Regina was right…she had no control. And she wouldn't leave. Or try to stop her.


End file.
